Growing From Experience
by blowmeaway
Summary: When a new clan comes into existence and threatens the lives of innocent civillians and fellow ninja's, Sakura will do everything in her power to stop them.


**Chapter 1 **

**Goals**

**Disclaimer: **None of these characters are mine.

* * *

_Flashback_

_A tear slipped down her pale cheek. Liquid green eyes remained wide open in shock._

_"I'm sorry, Sakura"_

_The said girl lifted her head to look at her sensei. Her eyes were pleading with the Hokage that the news she had just heard was part of some sort of twisted joke._

_"They're gone." the Hokage said. Her caramel coloured eyes reflected the same grief and pain that her student was experiencing. The Haruno's accepted Tsunade when she had been a young girl, training to become one of the three Sannin. They supported her decisions, helped her on the path to making the right ones and were kind to her. She did not know how Sakura would react to this news when they were Sakura's biological parents._

_'Or maybe not' Tsunade thought, remembering the letter that was delivered to her, along with the scroll containing the details of their death's. _

_'Did the Haruno's tell Sakura about her birth?' _

_Tsunade shook her head to clear her thoughts of the questions that she knew would begin to haunt her. Looking at her pupil, Tsunade could tell that Sakura was not just going to grieve. Sakura was stronger than she had been two years ago, rivaling Chouji in strength and surpassing Lee in speed. Sakura had become the second greatest Medic-nin in the world and would soon become the first if her skills kept improving. The girl in front of her merely appeared frail, which would be an excellent advantage in battle, where she could be underestimated by her opponents._

_Tsunade spoke "What are you going to do now, Sakura? Will you tell Naruto, Sasuke and Sai?"_

_Sakura shook her head at the second question and responded shakily "No, shishou. I have to be able to deal with this on my own. If I want to become stronger, I need to be able to control my emotions, even though..." Green eyes sparked with ferocity and more tears slipped down her cheek as she stared at Tsunade, "even though it kills me."_

_Tsunade felt tears welling up in her own eyes and stepped out from behind her desk to enfold Sakura in an embrace._

_She whispered to Sakura "You want revenge don't you." It wasn't a question. Tsunade-sama knew Sakura too well._

_Sakura looked up at her teacher and knew "No, I just want to stop this group from breaking up anymore family's, like they broke up mine."_

_Tsunade raised a brow "Without telling your team mates. How will you accomplish this Sakura?" Sakura sighed, feeling a certain weariness creep along her skin mixed in with the pain of loss she felt over her mom and dad. Pulling away from the embrace, she began to pace, with her hands behind her back clasped and gnawing on her bottom lip in concentration._

_Looking at Tsunade, Sakura frowned and stated "You know that this group that targeted my mom and dad will not stop killing. The Tenshi's are a group that will strive for their goal, whatever it is, and do anything they can to accomplish it. I read about this group of ninjas in the scrolls with all the clan listings. Their bloodline is described as a limited supply of raw power that if they can't control, will bring about chaos. There is also a piece of information that focuses on a myth, the Sakurai myth. The myth basically foretells the coming of a Tenshi ninja every thousand years that will have a power supply rivalling that of Kami's, who will even be able to resurrect the dead." Sakura held out her hands helplessly, "Tell me Tsunade-sama. How do you destroy a clan that has enough power in one ninja to overthrow Konoha? What if they begin to attack here? The whole village will be destroyed in a matter of days!" _

_Tsunade could see the logic in Sakura's thinking but she still refused "If that is true Sakura, tell me how you would be able to kill off this clan. Since their power is stronger than the whole village, how will you be able to take them out?" Tsunade was worried. She knew the limits of Sakura's mind, which were basically...none. Sakura's intelligence had no limits whatsoever. Tsunade knew that if Sakura came up with a good enough reason to take out this clan, a very dangerous one, she would have to relent._

_Sakura inwardly smirked. She knew that her teacher's resolve was weakening and quickly countered, "I am a medic-nin, second best to you and trained by you Tsunade-shishou. Their power is said to be raw and not easily controlled, even by themselves. It would exert one of the ninja from the Tenshi clan to have to use their bloodline, which they would have to resort to, if Naruto, Sasuke and Sai accompany me. At that point all Team 7 would have to do is avoid the Tenshii ninjas' attacks of the power until they tire out."_

_Tsunade thought about this very thoroughly, trying to find any holes in the plan, but came up with none and nodded in consent. She waved her finger at Sakura in reprimand "Stay on track for this mission though, Sakura, do not let your emotions overrule your thinking and remain calm. This mission has a 50-50 chance of succeeding. If you deviate, even a little bit off the plan, run. Do not even think about that. Just get out of the situation as fast as you can and no do not give me that sullen pout. I mean it or I will forbid you from going." Tsunade warned._

_Sakura hesitantly nodded, watching as the Hokage slid behind her desk and into her chair to gather the messy paperwork into a neat pile._

_Sakura walked closer to the desk and said softly "Tsunade-shishou, please do not tell the real reason as to why you are giving Team 7 this mission. I do not need their sympathy or pity, especially after I know that I am going to have to endure Sasuke's comments. Please promise me."_

_Tsunade sighed before looking up at the petite pink-haired woman. Sakura not only looked fragile and broken at this moment. She_ was _broken and susceptible to the rude remarks that Uchiha heir would gladly make, should he ever see her like this. After coming back to Konoha, Sasuke not only ridiculed her, he tormented her, until sometimes she could sense Sakura's chakra signal from one of the library rooms, tinted with sadness and anger. _

_Tsunade reached for Sakura's hand and looked directly into her pupils eyes before stating with certainty "Sakura, you do not need him to tell you what your limits and strength's are. You already know that. It is your life and if there's one thing I've learned about you, it's that you never stop fighting. Whether it's for your friends, loved ones, or even yourself, you never gave up. So don't listen to that Uchiha and instead, tell him where you will send him if he talks again." Tsunade winked with wicked amusement and Sakura found herself laughing in delight at her teacher's wickedness._

_Pulling away from her teachers grip, Sakura bowed in respect, the amusement still in her eyes as she thanked her sensei and slipped out of the room._

_End of Flashback_

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Sakura remained leaning against the gate that separated Konoha from the outside world as she spotted her team mates walking exuberantly in her direction.

_'No doubt because of the mission'_ she thought bitterly. Tsunade had wasted no time in setting up this mission the very next day, knowing that Sakura would appreciate not wanting to think about the loss of her parents. Sakura blew her side bangs away from her eyes before straightening up and folding her arms across her chest. She faced the sunrise, wanting to be rejuvenated by it.

Her mom and dad would have loved this sunrise in particular because of all the orange and pink streaks that flashed across the sky. They had sometimes snuck out when Sakura was sleeping safely at home with her ANBU brother, to see the approaching dusk. Sakura knew this because she had one time sneaked out after them, discovering her parents' early morning ventures. They however caught her, as she was only 4 years-old at the time and could not properly mask her chakra signature from anybody, and had shown her the sunrise with them.

_'The sunrise is their sign,'_ she inwardly gasped in surprise, a hand flying to cover her mouth. Her eyes remained fixed on the beautiful flaming globe that rose in the sky, feeling the brief tears that slid down her cheeks before she rubbed them away and sniffled.

Sakura was still staring at the sun when the guys caught up to her.

Nudging her to get her attention, the kyuubi host flashed a bright smile at his best friend "Hey, Sakura, why are you here so early? You know we didn't need to meet by 10:00 am, but it's only 9:30." He stared curiously at the tiny woman. Sakura was never early, she would always come late to meetings, grumbling the excuse that she never got enough sleep on missions and made up for it by constantly sleeping in late.

Sakura looked at her friend, struggling to hold in the tears of grief and the news of her parents' death.

_'The reason I am on this mission is to prevent the Tenshii clan from destroying anymore villages and family's.'_ She thought fiercely and with that, she regained composure.

Sakura spoke non-chantilly "Oh I just couldn't sleep in this morning, that's all. What about you Naruto? What are you doing here so early?" With that question the blond began rambling about how he woke up to the smell of fresh ramen and just couldn't resist rushing over to Irchimaru's for breakfast, although from the red blush staining his cheeks, she knew that was not the reason.

Sasuke and Sai observed the normal exchange from beside their two team mates only rolling their eyes in unison at the blonde's loud volume.

Sasuke's gaze slid over Sakura as he registered her appearance. At the young age of 21, she appeared more mature but could easily enough pass for 18. Her pink hair was just below her shoulder in an even cut and new bangs that were cut to the right side of her face, made her gentle features appear youthful and radiant.

Her eyes shone with what he thought were tears and he would've called upon them, not wanting to pass up on a chance to tease her about what he thought of as a weakness, if Kakashi hadn't tried to materialize right in the spot where he was standing. But, of course, before Kakashi could even appear visible to the human eye, Sasuke was already positioned three feet to the right. Kakashi chuckled at his own feeble attempts to best Sasuke. The Uchiha prodigy was simply that, a prodigy.

Sasuke once more observed Sakura and the traces of his suspicion before deciding to drop it for the time being. Konoha ninjas should not be weak. Sakura was an exception.

He came back to his village, intent on facing the consequences that would be doled out to him by the council and eventually going on missions again. The trial was exactly what he expected and the terms set for him to abide with, even more so. But nothing else was the same. Everything was different. The small shops along the main strip sat in an order that he did not remember from his past and the people had staggeringly grown. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. He came to Konoha with the mindset of finding Naruto with a full-grown maturity that rivalled a two year-old and to gladly forgive him for leaving and residing on the side of Konoha's greatest enemy. He debated between the motions of Sakura sobbing and hugging him or avoiding him in embarrassment to her weakness in failing to drag him back home. She did neither.

Sakura reacted to his arrival, the way a person might react to a rainy day. You knew it was coming, you just didn't know when. In Sakura's indifference to his sudden presence, he began to tease her mercilessly in attempts to break through her shell and find out if she still harboured that genin crush. But in response to his teasing, Sakura merely snorted and would reach over to pat Sasuke on the back while saying "Get over yourself Sasuke, it's a waste of your time and most especially mine."

He was a full grown, fully-matured shinobi and would not allow anything to disrupt his concentration. Promising himself to seek out any cracks in her confidence he began walking out of the gate. After all, he did not spend all that time with Orchimaru for nothing. Some of parts of that snake had rubbed off on him, especially his ruthlessness.

Kakashi and Sai followed Sasuke from behind knowing that the mission remained 100% in Sasuke's mind. They however, continued to listen to Naruto going on and on about the mission and various types of new ramen that happened to be created. Sakura nodded passively to show that she was listening. Meanwhile her gaze remained alert, her posture relaxed and ready for any chakra signatures that might appear larger than the average ninja's. Looking down the long path that seemed to continue on forever with surrounding forests, she reviewed the details of the mission in mind. The Tenshi clans' last sighting was near the Hidden Village of Mist. She thought that this piece of information was a bit unusual, since her parents' mission happened to be near the Village of Sand and she had assumed that her parents were their last kill.

_'Apparently not'_...she thought smirking in dry humour. Her brow furrowed in attempts to hold back the flood of emotions that threatened to break free once again. Eyes pricking with tears, she shook her head in attempts to push them back.

_'Mom and Dad would not have wanted me to cry'_...Sakura smiled at the memory of her mother and father embracing and smiling down at her and her older brother in happiness.

_"Life is too short to let it pass away. It is important to look on the bright side of things sweethearts."_

And her mother would grab them in a bear hug, laughing joyfully.

A perfect crystal tear slid down Sakura's cheek at the memory and she brought her hand up to catch it on a fingertip. As she looked down at the tear drop, Sakura narrowed her eyes in determination. She would not allow the Tenshi clan to hurt anymore innocent people. She would stop them before harm came to anymore families.

The sun had risen high in the sky now. It was a beautiful sight, with orange, yellow and pink streaks flaming across the sky. Sakura inwardly smiled at the sun. Mom and Dad would have wanted her to do this, no matter if the reasons might've appeared as revenge.

It was truly not revenge that she was after, but to find out why this mysterious and deadly clan was killing off innocent people. And more importantly to find out the reasons as to why they attacked and killed her parents, when it wasn't them the Tenshi ninja had been after.

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**Author's Note:** Reviews, reviews, reviews are the bane of my existence. So please...review!


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